Pilot Under Grace
by Sakura123
Summary: (Originally titled "Five Stages"). "Yancy was the guy you didn't want to be when you came up against a Kaiju. He was dead. A Ranger was no good to anyone dead and death signified mistakes. Only weak pilots made mistakes."
1. 001: Denial, 2013-2014

**Title:** Five Stages

**Summary:** Disconnected memories of the late Yancy Becket.

**Disclaimer:** Pacific Rim and all things related is property of Guillermo del Toro, Travis Beacham and Legendary pictures.

* * *

**001: Denial**

* * *

It wasn't a post apocalypse. At least, that's what his parents kept telling him and Raleigh. Everything around them argued otherwise, though. If the world was in bad shape before monsters ate bridges for breakfast, it got even worse when people realized they were appearing just about everywhere that was close to home.

After the news reports (that told them nothing because no one knew what to do, really), their parents were on edge, more so than usual. They would spend nights burning holes in the carpet just walking around, worrying about looters. Dad either had a shotgun either in one hand or lying somewhere he could get it. San Francisco was burning from radiation fallout and a corpse that bleed itself into the earth. Manila was experiencing roughly the same aftermath and people at home were going crazy.

Going to sleep was a chore; whether he admitted it or not, he had nightmares about the things he saw on the television screen and forums following the news most weren't supposed to be privy to. One particular twitpic of a woman after she was exposed to the blood of the monster left him wide awake or tearing at his own skin his nightmares. He didn't use the computer for a week afterward.

The school was buzzing with gossip about the end of times: Aliens, fucking Cthulhu and everything conjured from the human mind was suspect for the woes that were sending the economy and the public state of mind sprawling down toward madness. His mother put up a good front, reassured them the military would get the situation sorted out before long. The monsters couldn't stick around forever.

"What could we possibly have that they want? Bad air?" The false sentiment worked for maybe about a second. The words weren't quite enough to convince him the universe would roll back what was set in motion. This wasn't something out a fantasy, this was real. And the worst part about their situation was never knowing when it would hit them.


	2. 002: Anger, 2016

**002: Anger**

* * *

Yancy's eye is still swollen and red when he wakes up. His face feels equal parts numb and sore at the same time. He's almost afraid to shift his jaw. His shoulder blades, smashed straight into the floor when his brother tackled him in the bar, did not appreciate his meager attempt to test his mobility.

They don't talk to each other unless they have to and it's usually in front of Marshall Pentecost. He knows the two of them are still sore at each other, but he won't take the time to sort their shit out for them. They either get with the program or find themselves looking for jobs on the pier. Best case scenario would be reassigned with new pilots, but Stacker wasn't so forgiving when it came to misconduct.

There were jokes for days about the state of his face; he took them in stride, typically more comfortable with Tendo poking at him because he knew he never meant any harm by telling him his face looked like it walked into the fist of Kaiju. So there he sits, minding his business, chewing thoughtlessly on potatoes when Raleigh slides in the empty spot next him. Yancy doesn't acknowledge him. Raleigh doesn't have to say anything, really, but he does, because Raleigh isn't one for leaving things unsaid. "I got a few tickets for an Aces game tonight. You wanna come?"

"Not, really, no, Rals," He scoops the rest of his dinner into his mouth and stands to leave. Raleigh does the same, only it's so quick that it's hard not to miss the bounce that comes straight from his heels. His is both frustrated and pleading. "Look, I get that you're pissed at me,-" Yancy tries his damnedest not to smile (bitterly) because the bruise still hurts like hell- "but we have to sort this out or we're off the program," Raleigh reminded him.

"Look, I'm not pissed at you, Raleigh, but right now, I just need my-"

The alarm roared overhead, startling everyone presently distracted with their own meals and worries up and out of their chairs. Yancy frowns as "space," fell from his mouth, deflated. Raleigh's eyes widened with all the excitement of a first time pilot. They stepped over the bench in unison; dropping his plate on the table, he followed after his brother and the others as fast as he could.

They weren't ready for this, why were even putting them up on duty?


	3. 003: Acceptance, 2016

**003: Acceptance**

* * *

Neither he nor Raleigh ever considered themselves "Drift Compatible". When they trained in the academy, it was on the basis that they would do anything to prove they could hang with the best of the best; do anything to protect their home because they couldn't think to do anything else.

If they ended up with other teammates, it wouldn't be a big deal; things rarely went their way. Being judged by strangers wasn't too big of a deal for either brothers; despite what Drifting ultimately entailed, he figured he could handle the intimacies of a head he'd never been in before.

It wouldn't be someone he had to live in the same sense as his brother, if it wasn't mandatory to live in the Shatterdome by the time they graduated. But, Drifting with his brother meant there would be no secrets between them; nothing that could really stay hidden. The idea in and of itself was probably the most daunting aspect of the procedure. Yancy, he liked his privacy and knowing that that disappear once they literally became one person in relation to the machine they would pilot put him on edge.

It seemed petty when you compared it to Kaiju, but still...

* * *

Standing like a mannequin as the Drivesuit teams strapped them in their armor, he let his good eye switch over to his brother. Raleigh put on a small, nervous smile. Yancy chose to ignore it.

Then it happened. All of the same memories they incidentally shared from living together came rushing at him once at drastically different angles and emotions. How he perceived a moment was nothing like how Raleigh did. Form him, Naomi was a chance to let off some steam in the midst of stress; Naomi to Raleigh was a prize opportunity stolen from him. Being the oldest by three years made him automatically responsible and heir to the position of adult responsibility; being the youngest by the same space of time hindered made him feel powerless in the face of a brow beating from his brother, father and mother. Back and forth, two lives, two perspectives. Good and bad. The whole ordeal overwhelmed him, literally knocked him off balance. His body twitched, jerking to the left before he went to one knee, bracing his knuckles against the floor.

_Whoa! You alright, Yancy?_

_Y-yeah, I'm alright-_ He stopped, realizing his lips weren't moving. _Rals?_

_I know, right? Acoustics and everything. Way different than the simulators._

That went without saying. He opened his eyes and he saw things a completely different light. He was still him, but there was them and there was Gipsy. The colossal weight and strength, all of it connected to their bodies. And he didn't need to say anything, not with words; he could hear his brother in his head, could feel him raise his arm when he did; sincerity and bitterness, all awash in their heads. Gipsy Danger's arms moved in sync with theirs, fingers flexing and its wrist turning when they did the same.

"Gentlemen, we good?" Tendo's question echoed in their ears. They raised their hands with thumbs up, Gipsy did the same. "Yeah. Yeah, I think we're good," Yancy answered. Heart racing, he turned face his brother. He could imagine the look on his face because Raleigh was smiling.

_This is awesome._

_This is the best._

_You still mad?_

_Hell, yes. You owe me lunch, kid._

* * *

This came out reasonably weird. One part me wanted to do "First Drift = Awesome", the other "First Drift + Gipsy Danger = Super". Instead it kinda comes out stream of consciousness-y (Mrs. Canon is hitting me with the comic book right now :D).


	4. 004: Bargaining, 2020

**004: Bargaining**

* * *

"How's your neck?"

"Stiff as hell."

"How'd you sleep?"

"Like a rock."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Yancy sleeps like the dead. There's really no waking him once his head hit's the pillow for the night - or even the day. To wake him up before he's had time to recuperate is to hang in the presence of a decidedly less enthusiastic version of an otherwise outgoing man. Straight-backed, with his head fixed solidly on the pillow, Yancy's form is as attentive in sleep as its wide awake in the presence of Marshall Pentecost.

"No point. We talk about it all the time."

The latter, of course, is because he doesn't sleep well. Despite the utter oblivion he appears to experience once he closes his eyes, his mind is always racing with questions.

There are times Raleigh swears he can pick on his distress outside the Drift, but he's been told that's impossible.

The advantage of living in someone's head for the last four years was knowing how they processed their waking life. The Drift revealed often the frazzled and fractured thought process of his brother when he chose to micro analyze their situation in the long run, either through the actions of battle or the way he slouched in the haze of blue memories and bubbles.

"I mean like a real conversation, Yance."

They talk to each other all the time in the Drift, jokes, strategy and Kaiju stats. It's no different outside the connection, but the willingness to speak on what's bothering him is less forward. So he sleeps, fixating on his programs under the covers with a frown, trying to work them out with his subconscious. Sometimes he works them out; other times, he just makes them worse.

"Drifting isn't a real conversation?"

If he's not sleep problem solving, he takes his frustrations out on the Kaiju; Raleigh shares in his emotions on a completely different level. Where his brother is becoming uncertain of the long run results, worn thin by his internalism, Raleigh is even more determined to prove his fears wrong.

No matter how valid they might be.

"You know what I meant."

Long term thinking could wear a man thin and instill doubt. It was Marshall Pentecost's belief that long term meant nothing if you couldn't perform in the present. And they were performing; hell, they were out performing expectation. The Kaiju were on the run, Gipsy Danger was the star of the Jaeger Program; they were even invited to talk about their experiences as Rangers on a local radio program. It didn't get any more present than their situation. But, in true Yancy fashion, Yancy worried as much as he celebrated.

"I'll tell you what, kiddo; when I feel like taking outside the Drift- about this anyway- you'll be the first to know."

Sparks fall from the looming mech in the distance; the chaos of the Shatterdome, hard at work keeping Gipsy Danger up to specs, filled up the world around them. His brothers eyes were fixed on the heart of the Jaeger; tired and a little forlorn. He gripped the railing and leaned to the left, bumping his shoulder. "You shouldn't worry so much, you're gonna give yourself wrinkles, old man," The two rocked back and forth, balancing each others weight.

"Well, someone has to worry," Yancy argued. "We stop worrying, what's that say about us?"

"That we got it in the bag?" It was a joke, honestly. And given Yancy's expression; exasperated, but amused, it would be easy to assume the matter was concluded. But as soon as he stopped smiling, his eyes are back on Gipsy. Raleigh knew he'd have to wait until his brother was ready to talk.


	5. 005: Depression, 2017

**005: Depression, 2017**

* * *

He liked to think Naomi was a flash in the pan, someone both of them got over relatively quickly once the initial embarrassment that they fought over her at all passed. Fads and groupies came and went like the tides. Jaeger pilots could be on their way out the next day and the most Naomi could've amounted to was "that girl they fought over".

Still, to run into her in the middle of the Grand Central Market while off duty was something of a surprise.

She wasn't terribly affected by the news when she came around base to see him. In fact, Naomi was rather flattered that they duked it out over her. He couldn't blame her for the situation any more than his brother could think him jealous for returning the advances of someone who was interested in him. She lost interest in him eventually and for two weeks there was odd emptiness; his parents lived on the other side of Anchorage, it was chore to get out to see them. That she would come all the way just to ogle him was rather appreciated by his pride. When she was gone, well, he spent a good couple of days patching the holes poked in his ego after he found out she was flirting with another pilot.

Why was youth so difficult?

It'd only been a year since they actually met, but she'd changed so much already. The vibrant clothes remained, but her expression was ragged, like she'd spent hours running a late night shift at a coffee shop. Her hair was rolled up in messy bun and books pressed against her chest like a shield. His cheeks flared red as his mind fell back on the memory of car. The way his palm pressed against the upper part of her chest as she draped a leg over his lap. "Naomi, hey," He was pretty sure his voice raised an octave there.

"Yancy Becket," Naomi smiled back. "How are you?"

He shrugged, bomber jacket rolling with his shoulders. "I've been good, thanks. And yourself?"

"Working, studying, the usual," She titled her head to the right. "Unless you're Jaeger pilot, then you don't have to worry about school." Lowering the books from against her chest Naomi revealed an issue of a magazine that featured him and Raleigh among four other Jaeger pilots, the oldest in their relatively young business.

He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Yeah, yeah, there is that," He paused. "How's your family?"

"My parents are thinking of moving to the Atlantic, or somewhere away-" She waved dismissively. "Away from all of this."

"You think that'll help?" He was honestly curious. "Moving away?"

"I don't, but I can understand why they'd want to," She answered. "There's a drill in the city almost every other week and things aren't the greatest in our neighborhood because we're so close to the water. I mean, that's why you're here, right? Because of the Kaiju?"

"Yeah," His expression became studious, his body relaxed now that they were on more comfortable discussion. "LOCCENT got a reading. We're just waiting for a confirmation. I'm not even sure if I should tell you that."

"I'm glad you did," She smiled for a moment, the weariness melting from her face before the shadows returned. "Do you think they'll ever stop?"

"Who?"

"The Kaiju; do you think they'll ever stop attacking the cities?" From the look on her face, there was part of him that wanted to lie; tell her "absolutely", but he didn't even know himself. "Uh, listen, my brother and I are in town for another week-"

"No, that's okay, I'm just visiting a friend," Naomi shuffled to the side, making a move to exit. "Tell Raleigh I said hi, okay?"

"What and get my ass kicked again? Not a chance," That made her smile. Moving forward, she stood on her tip-toes and gave him an awkward kiss that landed on the edge of his mouth. He thought to respond in kind, but she moved away before he could even pucker his lips. She ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his neck. "See you later, hero," She stepped away and he watched her go, lips pressed firmly against each other to preserve the tingling feeling running up across his cheeks.

Naomi was a flash in the pan, but one that still made him relatively hot and bothered when he thought about her.

* * *

**Author's Note I:** This turned out be a little longer than I thought it would be. I just kept writing and writing until I realized a bunch of disconnected stories stuffed into a single [final] chapter wasn't going to work. Thus, it became expanded and the theme changed rather quickly despite its central focus. 'Cause I saw the movie a second time *Snoopy Dance* and it was still awesome

**Author's Note II:** So, I wanted to write something with Naomi Sokolov because most would just see her as the flagrant groupie looking to get laid by Jaeger Pilots and bash her if they bothered to remember the character. Yeah, she did want to get laid, but became more than that "girl they fought over". _Tales From Year Zero_ does an amazing job of showing she's not just a static/shallow character. That she, like everyone else, is just as effected by the events caused by the Kaiju and wants some good to come out the situation, for humanity's sake.


	6. 006: Falling, 2019

**006: Falling, 2019**

* * *

Dreams and forewarning weren't phenomena he ever kept track of or put much credence into. The random firing of whatever triggered the images in his brain to repeat in loose continuity, creating odd scenarios built from memories.

Dreaming reminded him of Drifting; only instead of an almost successive line of events that come one after the other, everything is fractured and more abstract than he'd like it. If this was the world's way of trying to tell him something, he'd appreciate it so much more if there was some kind of coherency to the message.

* * *

Almost every other night the world burned bright red and orange. The sun shined in the corner of his eye, blue splashed above him like water paint slashes across dry canvas as gravity pulled him back down toward the planet. He was falling again. The weightless, the feeling he got when Gipsy's head plummeted from the top of the Shatterdome, thrilled and frightened him.

He can't remember why he was falling, even as the sun reflected off the side of his arm, truth eluded him and tugged at the very pit of his stomach as he was dragged down into the black.

* * *

Raleigh was rattled from his sleep by a loud thud. One side of his brain lit up, calculated how quickly he could maneuver out of bed, jump into clothes and prepare to attack. The groan that followed, however, kick started his memory. That wasn't any Kaiju attack, Yancy had just fallen out of the bed. Rolling onto his right side, he pulled his head out from under the covers and observed the sheet hanging from the top bunk. Yancy, bed-haired and bleary eyed, seemed to look about his surroundings like he had no idea where he was. "Bad dreams?"

Yancy turned to look at his brother with squinted eyes. "No, falling dream," He slurred, lying back down on the floor.

"Again?" Not Raleigh particularly cared, but it was a second time his brother had rolled himself out of the bunk in the last week. "Sure you don't need safety railing up there ol-"

"Rals, if you value your life, you won't finish that sentence," Yancy warned.

"At least get off the floor," Raleigh muttered burrowing back under the covers.

Yancy grunted something in response, but made no move to climb back into the bed.


	7. 007: Umbra IV, 2019

**007: Umbra IV, 2019**

* * *

It was roughly nine days from Christmas, but Yancy's expression was that of a boy who just discovered his presents locked in the closet somewhere. Manila was the target of yet another Kaiju attack, this time a Category IV Kaiju with all the looks of a porcupine. Marshall Pentecost code named the creature "Umbra", Tendo, however, was content with calling "Spike". "I figure, of all the Kaiju this year, it should be the one with the least romantic name," Tendo argued when it was apparent Pentecost's name would stick instead of his.

"Tell you what, we promise to use yours instead of the Marshall's, how's that?" Raleigh was willing "compromise" in name of their friendship; Yancy was content with watching their friend pout in his chair with a cookie in his mouth as Pentecost stoically ignored his protests and relayed mission details. Spike was Umbra whether he liked it or not.

However, that wasn't the reason Yancy was struggling to maintain his composure and a straight face. Straight across from them was a man considered only second to the legend of Stacker Pentecost himself: Hercules "Herc" Hansen himself and with him, Striker Eureka. A Jaeger said to outclass just about every Mark series on the market (so to speak), theirs included. Not that their pride would allow them to admit that, of course; nothing beat Gipsy Danger in a fight when they were her pilots.

They'd heard all about Hansen at the academy and their gradual rise to stardom as Jaeger pilots; Yancy kept a big damn notebook of old Jaeger pilot exploits right up until after their Academy days and Herc was in quite a few clippings. There were more than a few instances where their paths might've crossed at the PPDC's behest to promote their surviving pilots in the name of maintaining positive public opinion, but Herc declined more often than not. His son was just a few years younger than they were and they were already hearing "ace pilot" circling the drain. To find out they were not only serving with him, but the pilots of the Horizon Brave, Lo Hin Shen and Xichi Po, was exciting.

To say the least, they were couple of guppies swimming among sharks and couldn't be happier.

Yancy was all smiles, failing spectacularly to keep a straight face as Herc comes to greet the two of them. "It's an honor to work with you sir," He said. Herc's gaze shifted over to Raleigh, Raleigh smiled knowingly as he listened to Yancy ramble on with compliments. "Likewise, boys, heard all about your fight in Los Angeles," Herc responded, keeping his grip firm.

Raleigh threw an arm around his brother's shoulder as he nodded his head. "Yeah, that was pretty gnarly for a first mission, but handled it, didn't we, bro?" Yancy meets his brother's expression with a look of good-natured annoyance; Los Angeles and Yamarashi were anything but "handled". he considered it their worst outing ever, considering what almost happened to their Conn-Pod. One hundred percent emotion and no strategy outside of "rip the fucker's head off". "That, we did, Rals," He answered evenly.

"Not to worry, first time's always the worst," Herc released Yancy's hand and gave him a firm slap on the arm. As they followed him toward Shatterdome, Raleigh made kissing noises that earned him a punch in the side.

* * *

"What brings you two all the way from Hong Kong?" Yancy inquired as he fiddled with his side of the control panel, double checking the systems.

"Special request. Pentecost believes the nature of the Kaiju requires our Jaeger's particular ability," Xichi Po replied over the communicator. In the corner of his eye he saw his brother lips curl into a smile. Horizon Brave's power moves were the stuff of legend. News feeds capturing the wicked strength of its sucker punch and flash freeze moves were nothing short of amazing. "Lo believes, of course, we should be in Hong Kong, but we go where we're needed."

"What happened to Lucky Seven?" Raleigh felt the need to pry into the issue.

"Seven went down six months ago," Lo Hin Shen replied tersely. "Typhoon's pilots are too inexperienced to be left on their own."

"I dunno, I'd say their track record says otherwise," Yancy grinned as a bit of turbulence rattled the Conn-Pod. There were was a short grunt on the other end from Lo, Raleigh chuckled.

"That's enough of that, boys. Lo's worried about home is all," Herc's co-pilot, Michael, chided.

"I hate to be away from the homestead myself, but what's done is done," Herc chimed in. "Let's just kill this bastard and call it a day."

"Sir, yes, sir," Yancy responded.

* * *

The plan was simple; isolate Umbra's range to the coastline and keep it from the city. Same plan as always, only this time they needed three Jaegers to do accomplish the job. Horizon Brave would act as a backup, Gipsy the decoy; Striker was the quarterback. Defend the Miracle Mile. But with Category IV Kaiju, there wasn't any real idea what to expect outside "unexpected"; they were faster and far smarter than Category I and Category II Kaiju, and a step up from III's to the point of increasing difficulties.

This, of course, they knew all their studying. This would be Gipsy Danger's first Category IV. III to I's were all they'd been fighting and they were challenge enough. Yancy felt his breath leave his body when he caught a glimpse of the massive creature; it stood on all fours, sported a long prickled tail with a flat end that resembled a dry leaf and scales that reminded him of small rock formations and shingles welded together on the back of an animal. The way it moved made it appear as though every scale on its back was moving individually.

Its eyes were clear in the daylight of the afternoon; wide and without eyelids. It seemed to focus exclusively on them as the harnesses on the back and shoulders of Gipsy Danger were released in sync with Striker Eureka and Horizon Brave. The helicopters moved out the area to a safe distance; in the background they could hear the ringing alarms warning everyone to get to safety. The Kaiju howled mournfully as it moved through the water. "Get, ready, kiddo," He breathed as the water rose up around them from the impact of their landing.

"I was born ready, Yance," Raleigh declared. "Let's do this." Gipsy Danger stood upright in the water as Horizon and Striker began to approach from their respective sides, titans of a different class. This was what it was all about; coming together and fighting as one on multiple levels. Yancy smothered his boyish enthusiasm and focused on the mission. Gipsy Danger marched toward the others with all swagger of his younger brother, her loose suspension giving it the right amount of cowboy jingle as her armor adjusted itself to their environment. Horizon Brave pounded its fist into the palm of its right hand, Stirker Eureka rolled its shoulders. The Kaiju observed them all with its wide and lifeless eyes, seemingly undaunted by their intimidation tactics. Raleigh shared a look with his brother. "Looks like he doesn't wanna play, Yance," Raleigh remarked with a grin.

"Well, that can be fixed," Reaching over, Yancy pressed the button on the side of the console. The horn blared in succession with Umbra's howl; Striker Eureka and Horizon Brave did the same. Its body trembled, its head swung wildly as if try and dismiss the sound they were making. Horizon Brave leapt into the fray; its cryo canons releasing a blast of coolant from its exhaust vents as its fists charged. The Kaiju swung its tail at the Mark-1; Horizon shouldered the brunt of the attack with its side and barreled forward into it.

Umbra growled fighting against the added force of the Jaeger's boosters as it pushed it further into the water. Striker followed after them, its blades rolling out from its wrists and shielding its brass knuckles; the Mark-5 charged forward and brought its blades down on the armor of the Kaiju. Umbra used its body weight against the Jaegers, pushing upward and against them at the same time. They stumbled backward, moving to catch themselves as Umbra zeroed its attention on Gipsy Danger.

"Get ready, boys, its coming right for you," Herc shouted.

They fell back into their defensive stances, Gipsy Danger's arms raised and its gauntlets shifted, moving closer around the opening of the wrists. They braced themselves, stepping sideways the closer Umbra got, leading it away from the coastline just a few miles behind them. As they made a move to grab the Kaiju around the neck, Umbra ducked under their arm rammed their side. They stumbled, taken aback.

Emphasis on smart. They didn't panic; rolling with the force of the blow, they used the momentum pushing against them to maintain their footing. Striker and Horizon moved in to attack, Umbra struggled to get its flat feet up against the Jaeger's waist. Yancy grit his teeth against the pain flaring up in his side from the circuitry suit. He raised his right arm in sync with his brother and began to swing in rhythm.

The Plasmacaster unfurled around Gipsy Danger's hand; this thing took far too long to warm up, but the power behind it was worth the wait. Pulling their arms back they rammed downward; Gipsy Danger's canon fired as it smashed against the back the Kaiju. They braced their feet against the ground; Umbra was using all its strength to push them back, howling as its scales took the brunt of their blast. Its' body heaved upward, its scales dragging against the armor of the Jaeger.

The alarms went off in second, every system was reading a critical energy mass. Raleigh stopped pounding on the back of the Kaiju long enough to stare at the screen. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, is that-"

Yancy didn't the chance to tell Raleigh to keep punching, even as his arm moved to push the Kaiju away from them. Its neck stretched out from behind the armor protecting it and leaned to the right. Its teeth clamped down hard on Gipsy Danger's right arm and its eyes glowed red. Yancy's fingers reflexively grabbed the controls harder as the senors relayed Gipsy's pain through his suit. The body of energy was large enough that the discharge of what looked and felt like electricity didn't confine itself to their Jaeger; everything around them exploded in blast of yellow light, black smoke and fire.

He couldn't tell who was screaming, him or Raleigh. He knew the arm burning was his own, but he couldn't tell who the pain was coming from. The attack only lasted for half a second, but the pain racing through the Conn-Pod made it feel like an eternity. Horizon Brave socked the Kaiju in the face at risk to its own structure; Striker Eureka grabbed it from behind and, using its T-16's, sent the Kaiju flying across the harbor. Yancy felt himself falling backward into the black before he could stop himself.

* * *

Striker Eureka charged after Umbra without hesitation, the intensity of the Jaeger's speed startled Horizon's pilots.

Po watched Gipsy Danger sink to its knees, groaning as the last of the Kaiju's discharge dissipated from its body. Lo swore angrily at the realization that they were down another fighter and looked to his partner. "We have to help Striker," He said.

Po didn't think any differently, but the idea that they weren't going to try and rouse the MK3 pilots from whatever state they'd fallen into, seemed wrong to her. "There isn't time," Lo stated firmly. Po nodded and together they realigned themselves and charged after Striker Eureka and Umbra.

* * *

When Raleigh came to, Gipsy Danger was dark. He was hanging forward, hands still gripping the controls. The smell of burning wires and whatever the hell their armor was made out of brought him to complete awareness. A flash hit the back of his memory; his brother, his side of the cockpit had lit up brighter than Christmas lights and overloaded everything. Opening his eyes he tried to get a sense of where he was.

The Conn-Pod; that much for starters was obvious. The ache in his legs told him he was still standing upright, if not leaning forward. Outside, he could hear the irate howls of the Kaiju still railing against Striker Eureka and Horizon Brave. His head was ringing, he's only been awake for five minutes give or take, but he could tell that Kaiju didn't have any plans of lying down any time soon. Looking to his right, he found Yancy leaning forward in the same position that he'd been in only a few minutes ago; the smoke from his suit was still visible.

- Neural Link Recalibrating –

_Yance._

"Gipsy Danger, Gipsy Danger, do you read?"

_Yancy! Yancy, wake up, man._

"Gipsy, are you alright?"

_Yancy, c'mon, you gotta get up. _

"Raleigh? Yancy?"

_I can't pilot this thing on my own._

"I hear ya, Tendo. LOCCENT, this Gipsy Danger. We're-" He stopped when he saw his brother's left hand loosen and reassert its grip on the left control.

_Ugh._

- Reinitiating Launch Operations. Power back at 50 percent –

_Yance?!_

_Oooowwwww…._

Yancy lifted his chin from up off his chest. Slowly, the lights inside the Conn-Pod booted up, but the HUD was struggling to recalibrate.

_Holy shit, Yancy, you scared the hell out of me._

"LOCCENT, we're at fifty percent power, we're okay… I think," Raleigh reiterated.

"You think?! You went red over ten minutes ago. We thought you two were dead!" Tendo's voice was strained.

_The fuck did I drink?_

_You didn't drink anything, man. We're still in the Pod._

_...Right. What hit us?_

_About 1.21 or so gigawatts of electricity, I think. Don't quote me on that._

_Fuuuck._

"Can you talk?"

"Kinda," The words came out in a slur. His hand still clutching the hand control he raised his arm. Gipsy Danger responded in kind. "What… what happened?"

- Plasmacaster offline. Power at 58 percent –

"I think we got fried or something."

"Where is it?"

"I can't tell, the HUD's down."

"Try rebooting the system, direct power to the screen and the left arm."

"Yancy, are you alright?"

"Are you?"

"I dunno, I mean, I couldn't tell-"

"I know, me either, but we can't focus on that right now," Yancy struggled to pull himself into an upright position; Gipsy Danger's joints groaned from the movement. Hands on his legs, he stopped to move catch his breath. "How's it going over there, Rals?"

"Right side of the screen is only showing up."

"And?"

"Well, it's still alive, but so are Horizon and Striker, so maybe we weren't out for too long,"

"Ten minutes," Tendo chimed in.

"Whatever, Tendo," Yancy huffed. "Alright, let's go."

"You serious?"

"Aren't you?"

_Yancy, you can barely move._

_We don't have time for this, Rals._ "My Plasmacaster's down and I'm not even sure my rocket is working, but we can't let them fight that thing on their own," Yancy argued, raising his arm.

_I dunno, they seem to be doin' good without us._ As the thought reached his brother, Horizon was bowled over by the rampaging Kaiju.

_Shut up and move. _Yancy's arm twitched from a muscle spasm as he slammed his fist against the console. The horn roared overhead, vibrating the Conn-Pod. He gritted his teeth against the pain his leg when he stepped forward. _Can't do this on my own, Kiddo, need your help._

"Hang tight, man, I got ya," Raleigh pushed onward with his brother, bringing Gipsy Danger back onto its feet. Yancy's felt the extra weight of the Jaeger roll off his shoulders and fall back into balance. Umbra slapped Horizon Brave across its broad shoulders with its half broken tail, rupturing its tank and sending the Jaeger across the water. It stared down at the lumbering Jaeger with its wide lifeless eyes, its armored prickled with electricity and it charged forward. Raleigh watched the blur of the animal move through the screen. "Uh, it's comin' this way," He said.

"Where's Hansen and Courbet?" Yancy deadpanned.

"Right on its ass," Raleigh responded.

"I thought you boys were goners!" Herc's voice crackled over the static in their communicators. Raleigh felt the tightness in his chest alleviate when he heard the older man's voice. "Yeah, sorry about the nap; wasn't expecting that," He apologized.

"None of us were, but nevermind that. That thing is almost on top of ya," Hansen remarked.

"Then, let's not disappoint it," Yancy started to move faster, gritting his teeth against the pain spiking up his legs. Raleigh followed suit, his mind racing on pure instinct that was fueling his brother against the pain. Water seemed to part all around Umbra as it began to outpace Striker Eureka. It let out another roar, one that almost sounded aggravated that they were still moving under their own power.

_Do the boosters still work?_

_I think they might, yeah. _

_Fire 'em up._

_You're not seriously-_

"Do it, do it now!" Yancy shouted against the pain in the chest. Raleigh raised his arm and locked it back as they kneeled and jumped against the restrains of the harnesses. Gipsy Danger sailed out of the water, boosters firing at maximum. Umbra raised itself up on its haunches and opened its mouth to fire another volley of electricity. The Mark-3's fist came down into the mouth of the Kaiju as the thruster on its arm fired up. "Elbow Rocket!" The propulsion of the fist sent the Kaiju's falling backward; the momentum of the fist forced head down into the water.

Electricity fired up and out of the water, Gipsy Danger leaned out of the way, avoiding the brunt of the attack, but receiving it nonetheless through the fist stuck in the Kaiju's mouth. The Conn-Pod rattled from the discharge, Raleigh pulled Gipsy's fist from Umbra's mouth. Using both its arms, Gipsy Danger proceeded to pummel the Kaiju relentlessly with every jab that jumped to her pilot's minds. Rising up from the water, they grabbed it by the horns atop its head and pulled it out of the water.

The Kaiju, dazed from the blow had no chance to retaliate as the right arm coming straight for its throat. Gipsy Danger's fist punched through the soft flesh and stopped against the armor protecting its head. Freeing one hand, Raleigh fired up the Plasmacaster and blasts its neck not once, but three times. Umbra twitched lifelessly in their grasp, its throat sparking from cauterization and its own power. From behind Striker Eureka and a recovering Horizon Brave watched the Mark-3 Jaeger, impressed.

"Is it dead?"

Raleigh gave the Kaiju a shake. It didn't even twitch. "No pulse; its dead," He breathed, dropping it in the water. Yancy exhaled, unsure whether to cry or laugh with relief.

Herc laughed in spite of the situation. "Not bad," He remarked after a moment. "A little messy, but not bad."

"Yeah? You try fighting after being electrocuted," Raleigh huffed turning to face his brother. Instead of a reflection of relief, his brother was sinking to ground. Raleigh's face fell immediately, disconnecting from his harness he rushed to Yancy's side, helmet falling to the wayside seconds after. Pulling Yancy's helmet from his head, he ducked under his arm and braced his back with his leg. Reaching over, he pried his brother's hand away from the control. Yancy winced, the blood was slowly returning to his arm and fingers. Opening his eyes he regarded his brother's pallor expression with a weary smile. "You okay?"

Raleigh stared at him for a moment before he let out a small laugh. "Am I okay? You take the brunt of a shock- I think- and you ask if I'm okay?"

"Just tryin' to make conversation," Yancy leaned forward.

"What? What's wrong?" The question was redundant; he could feel his brother's pain spiking as he tried to calm his breathing. Had the Kaiju's attack hurt him - them?

"My chest hurts."

"I know, I know, just hang in there okay?" Raleigh responded, resting his forehead against his head. "LOCCENT. Tendo, Herc; I need some help. Yancy's… we're hurt pretty bad…"

* * *

Raleigh hung in the back of the Conn-Pod with his brother as Gipsy Danger was airlifted back to the Shatterdome. He managed to get them both out of parts of their armor before Yancy passed out next to him. The shell of the suit may have taken the brunt of the attack, but first layer was ruined beyond repair.

Everything had shorted out and if they tried to pull away bits that were falling off, he could see angry red burns on his and Yancy's skin. Yancy never woke up, not even when Raleigh tried talking through his sleep, recounting the good 'ole days before monsters crushed buildings and they weren't strapped to a walking nuclear powerhouse. When they were dropped into the Shatterdome, the first person to enter the Pod was Herc. Raleigh tried his best to keep his defenses in check when the older man pulled his brother away to look him over.

"You'll be alright," Herc murmured, mostly to himself.

"Alright? We got fried by a Kaiju; they shouldn't even able to do something like that! How is this fine?"

"It's fine because he's still alive and you've got something to complain about. Now be a sport and help me get him out of here." Raleigh did as he was told, for his brother. As he and Herc descended from the top of the Shatterdome with Yancy between them, he tries to ignore Pentecost's expression as he overlooks the smoking exterior of Gipsy Danger, his tin box twirling in his hand. "Mr. Becket, a word!" His voice boomed over the noise inside the Shatterdome. Raleigh stopped following Herc and the medics crowding around them long enough to respond, "Not right now, Marsghall."

"That wasn't a request, Mr. Becket."

"My brother is hurt, and you want-"

"Your brother, Mr. Becket, will be looked after. I want you in my office in ten minutes," Pentecost left before Raleigh has a chance to say something he'll regret. With an irate frown, he marches back over to Herc as his brother is fastened onto the stretcher the medics brought with them. The look on Herc's face told him he knew what was going on (and, really, who didn't?).

"I've gotta take care of this. Look after my brother," He said and moved to get himself cut out of the Drivesuit's remains.

* * *

What Raleigh received wasn't so much the third degree as it is review of the mission. None of them followed the plan to an exact T. If anything, their eagerness around the Category IV Kaiju got them throwing the first attack they could think to use. Pentecost didn't like a lack of formality. Raleigh, wanting to get out of the office as quickly as possible, kept his lips pressed together and his back strait, answering only when questioned.

Once he stepped out of the office, Raleigh ran through the Shatterdome, slipping through closing and opening doors as different areas prepped for various situations and drills. He made it to the infirmary as Herc stepped out, his expression weary and distracted.

"Is he alright?" Raleigh asked, breathless from running.

"Doctors seem to think so," Herc answered, slowing his pace. "A few burns; exhaustion from piloting and electrocution. They want a look at you, too." Raleigh nodded without hesitation. As long it got him into his brother's room, he'd do anything just about. "What about his chest- is his…?"

"Is his what?" Herc's face goes blank for a moment, not sure what the boy is asking until Raleigh taps the left side of his chest. "Oh, yeah, no damage to the heart. He's alright. You on the other hand-"

"I'm gone," He grasped Herc's hand with both of his and uttered a quick, "Thank you" before he headed for the door.

* * *

Yancy woke two days later, cotton mouthed and light headed from a lack of food. Raleigh, after days of sitting in a chair, dealing with his own burns and sleeping with his face pressed into the sheets, was rewarded by the sensation of a gentle tug in his mind that spurred his eyes open. With his face halfway into the covers, he followed the motion that roused him and found his gaze locked with Yancy's.

"Hey, kiddo," The nickname, often a knock against their three year age difference, was more endearing than anything in the world. He grabbed Yancy by the forearm and grinned. "Yance, damn good to see you awake!" He said.

"Yeah? I feel awful," Yancy remarked.

Pulling himself out of the seat, Raleigh made himself comfortable on the edge of the bed. "Well, then, I got some good-bad news," Raleigh responded.

Yancy, eyes only half open, quirked an eyebrow. "Good-bad news?"

"Uh, yeah. Gipsy's out of commission. It's gonna take a least a couple months to get her back up and running to full strength. Until February, I think,"

"Jesus, really?" Yancy pressed his head against the pillows that supported him. "It was that bad?"

"Mark-3's weren't exactly designed to battle Category IV's, Yance," Raleigh deadpanned. "She took a hard hit. I don't like it any more than you do, but this'll give us time to recuperate."

"Or go mad from cabin fever, whatever comes first," Yancy grimaced. "They take care of those burns?"

"Yeah, pretty much; I'm covered in more minty ointment then I care to think about," Raleigh smiled. "That and hopped up on pain pills. They patched me up as soon as they were done with you. We got a clean bill of health, mostly."

"Good to know," Yancy closed his eyes, drowsiness hitting him again. "…You did great out there, Rals. I'm real proud of you."

"Pentecost doesn't think so."

"Pentecost's a hardass, that's why. You saved my ass back there; the whole time I was dark, I didn't think I was coming out of it. You got me goin' again, so thanks."

"That wasn't anything; you'd done the same for me."

"I know, but I'm just sayin'… Thank you," Raleigh looked down at his brother as his eyes closed and his head rolled to the left. His hand still clasped around his forearm, Raleigh took a moment to study the bandages wrapped around his arm and his hand.

Away battles always left them in some kind of physical state of less than perfect. The first in LA nearly exposed them to Kaiju Blue; the second was the first armor breach Gipsy ever suffered; and now all three them were out of commission for recovery. He nudged his brother; Yancy scooted over without ever waking to ask why and moved his arm out of the way.

Lying on his side, he lifted his legs onto the bed, not particularly caring that his feet were sticking out past the footboard. Their quarters were a couple floors up, but he was too tired to move. Yancy could gripe about being jabbed in the side when they woke up, right now he needed a nap.


	8. 008: The Miracle Mile, 2020

**008: The Miracle Mile, 2020**

* * *

Two months felt like they barely passed before they were roused by the sound of alert system in the Shatterdome. Yancy argued with himself to get up and move, but he couldn't find it in him to do it. His shoulders and side were still aching from the Kaiju fight in Manila.

Dry runs reworking their connection made it difficult not to latch onto everything his brother had seen from his perspective: Electricity firing out from his suit as Umbra tore at Gipsy's right arm, his expression before he passed out. They worked through it, but he wasn't sure his body was going to want to handle the stress of Gipsy Danger again despite all the rehabilitation he suffered through to get back into fighting form.

Raleigh's hands were pounding the mattress and slapping him in the face the next instant. "Yo, Yance, we're up," He gripped his chin, eliciting the expected response from his brother. "Movement in the breach!" Yancy was sitting up in an instant, falling back on instinct; he blocked the offending hand, pushing Raleigh away from his face as he fought to focus. "Right. Breach. Got it."

He heard fragments, something about the biggest Category III recorded, Knifehead, Raleigh's general excitement; but the only thing he was worried about was the time. What kind of Kaiju had the balls to attack two in the fucking morning? Raleigh didn't care, though; they were getting back into the fight and his little brother could think of nothing but a good scrap.

Gipsy _was_ ready and waiting, after all.

Pulling his shirt over his head, he checked his shoulders and waist. The marks left behind from Umbra were beginning to fade, unlike the memory. An impatient pound on the door startled him. "Yo, Yance, we ain't got all day, Romeo Blue missed the sucker, we gotta get moving," Raleigh's voice, muffled by the door, brought him back to the present. Another yawn escaped him. "Gotcha, I'm coming out," He grabbed the door and pulled it back open. Raleigh was dressed and ready to go. His eyes were on his shoulder and back in the reflection of the mirror. "That getting any better?" He asked.

"Yeah, barely hurts," He yawned shuffling past him. Raleigh moved to prove the assertion; Yancy slapped his hand away without so much as missing a beat. "Don't try it, kid."

"Just checking," Raleigh grinned. Yance jumped into his clothes in under a minute and followed his brother as he bounced through the door. They fell in sync, a shoulder's breadth apart, swagger and all. Drivesuit techs were ready and waiting, Raleigh greeting them with the usual bravado.

This was it.

* * *

Between the two of them; it was a toss-up; depending on the situation, Yancy would and could break a rule of authority like nobody's business. For all the responsibility that came with being the older brother, he was no Scott Summers, but he wasn't Wolverine either. The moment he brought attention to the ship out on the gulf, there was going to be a situation. Pentecost, he played by the rules of collateral damage. There wasn't anything they could do for the fisherman, not when their primary concern was a city of thousands (or millions, whichever came first).

The Beckets, on the other hand? The one thing they did not deal with was collateral damage when it was avoidable. And it was completely avoidable this time.

"You know what I'm thinkin'," Raleigh declared confidently once he switched the communicators off.

The question had been rhetorical, but it elicited the same reaction nonetheless. "I'm in your brain," He deadpanned. "I know."

"Then let's go fishin."

* * *

_Good to be home again, eh, Yance?_

_Always a pleasure to be with the lady, Mr. Becket._

Yancy took a couple of breaths as his body readjusted to moving in tandem with Gipsy Danger. She was feeling great; a little sore from the repairs, but great nonetheless. They rocked back and forth with the motion of her legs fighting against the waves that battered against her body. Exhaust ports closed up as they dove further into the raging sea of the Miracle Mile.

There was no back up this time; no Herc Hansen to pull them out of the fire, no Horizon Brave to sucker punch a Kaiju into submission. Just them and Gipsy Danger battling the storm. The PPDC had long since decided Mark-3s were obsolete Jaegers and moved on to work on more Mark-4s and Mark-5s; rumors about their expenses were wild, but the upgraded specs were enough to make anyone with a rational mind vaguely jealous. They'd never be truly phased out, but their necessity on the battlefield would become less of a priority once MK4 and MK5's were in full swing.

* * *

_Lookin' pretty quiet under da sea._

_God, you're not about to sing are you?_

_I dunno, I just might._

Raleigh's excitement was infectious; it was hard to keep a focused mind when the guy next to you was practically leaping out of his boots with anticipation of the fight barreling toward them. He was literally failing his own advice. Raleigh teased him about his pace, tried to get him in the mood of verbal back and forth while they marched below the raging waters above them.

_How it's looking on your end, Yance?_

_Clear as a whistle, Rals. No movement detected._

_And your shoulder?_

_Fine, just like the last time you asked._

_You sure? 'Cause I'm getting' some feedback-_

_And?_

"The Drift doesn't lie; your shoulder's still bothering you, man."

"Focus, kid. You let me worry about my shoulder."

"That's impossible and you know it." A sigh escaped Yancy as he conceded with his brother's defense. Anything he felt, Raleigh was going to feel and that meant Gipsy Danger was going to as well. "I'll work through it, I've done it before."

"You sure?"

"Positive, now get your head back in the game, kid."

* * *

After a Category IV, III should've been an easy meal for Gipsy Danger. But it wasn't.

Knifehead slapped them around like a cat tearing at the belly of a fish, blocked every counter offensive attack they made against it after playing them for fools like a possum in the first round. The Conn-Pod was flashing from every hit, their harness was as unsteady as he'd ever could remember it. Why the fuck hadn't they listened to Pentecost?

He could hear his brother screaming, watched as his device went red and his suit overload from the data feedback. Gipsy Danger was screaming right along with him as her arm crashed into the water below. Every parental instinct kicked into overdrive, forcing him to focus his energy on retaliating against the Kaiju. The Plasmacaster fired, the Kaiju ducked out of the line of fire. Knifehead slapped them again and without the balance of the other arm, they were stumbling through the sea.

The tip of its head rammed the inner part of Gipsy's Danger's only arm. Raleigh stopped focusing on his pain long enough to hear Yancy howl, both in agony and anger as Knifehead fixed to remove the other arm from the Jaeger. Yancy smashed the hard shell of Knifehead's back, fury motivated his arm, strategy completely abandoned. Knifehead slapped the arm away and slashed its chest. The Kaiju bashed its head against the side of Gipsy, throwing her back another couple feet. Yancy felt his arm - Gipsy's arm- go numb. "Goddamnit!"

Everything from the shoulder down was burning, Yancy, falling back on his left control, swung wild and missed the Kaiju again when it sidestepped them. This fucking monster was too smart for its own good. "I can't a shot-" The Conn-Pod was slapped again; the force of the blow knocked them silly, their bodies go limp for a second and the harness locks up. As sparks begin to fly all around them, the large intention just above his head began to split apart.

Both their eyes went wide with the realization of what was happening when Yancy's side of the Conn-Pod blacked out and the top of the head was torn wide open. Raleigh was shooting a millions questions at him; all of it was wrapped up in a terror he'd never thought he'd ever experience from his brother again.

_It knows we're in the Pod!_

_Raleigh-_

_How the hell does it know we're in the Pod?!_

_Raleigh- _"Raleigh, listen to me!"

_What?_

He had no idea what the hell he was going to say.

_Yancy, what?!_

Maybe it would've been something inspirational or smart, but his mind went blank and his brother was screaming for him to respond. "You have to-"

And it was enough time to feel the harness attached his back go taut following the awful screech and moan of iron behind. One minute he's staring his brother in the face, the next he's being flung about like a ragdoll in midair. The world that surrounded him literally fell away like the shutter of a camera closing in on itself and plunged him into the black.

"No!"

Knifehead didn't pay him the courtesy of staring him in the face like an enemy come to respect his opponent; he was flung aside like waste plucked from the entrails of its prey and continued to gorge on Gipsy Danger. The cold of the atmosphere hit him immediately; rain and thunder hit him from all sides, confusing his already lost sense of direction. He could hear himself screaming, he couldn't right himself, he could only kick and flail his arms as the weight of his harness dragged him faster and faster down toward the water; water contaminated with Kaiju Blue.

_Yancy!_

_Raleigh!_

Oh, God, they were still connected.

_Raleigh, help!_

_Just hang on!_

The harness hit the water; the icy waves swallowed him whole, flowing through the tears in his suit. He couldn't do anything to stop himself from sinking. His fingers struggled to get him free of the harness; tearing and pulling at everything he could grab hold of. Nothing was giving and the surface was getting further and further away. _Just hang on! I'm coming, Yance!_ Raleigh's mind was on repeat; between his and his brother's pain, there was no room for error in what he was doing.

Yancy, whether he consciously believed it or not, was a dead man; but he continued to fight against the weight pulling him beyond the point of return; the deeper it went, the foggier his mind became. He could still feel his brother fighting, even as the pressure began to batter down on his ears and split the visor of his helmet.

_I don't wanna die. _

_You won't!_

_Raleigh… Raleigh…_

_Yancy, no!_

_I don't… Raleigh…_

A light flashes overhead, but it's too far away to make a judge of what it was. God, the storm or the canon going off in the face of a Kaiju. Yancy feels his head fall in sync with the water around him as his helmet cracks his hands float away from his chest. _Yancy!_

* * *

**Author's Note:** So I've seen conflicting accounts about what Yancy says exactly before he gets yanked out of the Conn-Pod. I've seen others think he says "Only listen to me!" (which really makes for an interesting perspective into his character; probably knew his ass was doomed and wanted his brother just to focus on him and not the shit around them). I've heard "[Raleigh-] Raleigh, listen to me!" - in the Drift, it sounds like he's saying the aforementioned "Only listen to me!" _and_ "Raleigh listen to me" - and the Novelization has him saying "Raleigh, listen to me!" and trying to speak right before he gets KO'ed by Knifehead (screw you, Knifehead). I'm a confuzzled bunny, but I fell back on what I heard and now I wait impatiently for the Blu-Ray/DVD release with subtitles and the vain hope of a Japanese Dub instead of French/Spanish audio options.


	9. 009: Yancy, Yancy, Yancy, 2021

**009: Yancy, Yancy, Yancy, 2021**

* * *

The worst thing about death was how people chose to remember you. For almost everyone involved with the program; Yancy Becket was foreshadowing. The trigger, the domino that started a downfall Raleigh chose to become ignorant of because it hurt far too much think about Gipsy, his brother and the lifestyle.

Yancy was the guy you didn't want to be when you came up against a Kaiju. He was dead. A Ranger was no good to anyone dead and death signified mistakes. Only weak pilots made mistakes.

For Raleigh, Yancy was still his brother. A brother he failed to protect when it mattered the most.

Newspapers and outlets reported it everywhere in big bold news font; "(CO-)PILOT OF GIPSY DANGER DEAD(!)" or some form of a vague obituary. Gipsy Danger fans wept for their "favorite brother" and extended their condolences to Raleigh through mail, the world panicked at the mere idea of their "superheroes" dying at all.

Everyone wanted to know, indirectly of course (they'd never ask him outright), if he was still connected to his brother when he died. Raleigh figured, considering his state of mind ("Drift Shock[ed]" according Mrs. Lightcap), it was obvious. It wasn't the dying part he experienced so much as it was the slow decent into unconsciousness, mired by forthright fear before the silence signified the connection was severed. No matter how many times he screamed, fumbled through the sea with one arm, Yancy never resurfaced, never responded.

He was alone with a thousand and one what if scenarios that all hinged on the idea that if they'd listened to Pentecost, his brother wouldn't be floating somewhere at the bottom of the sea, rotting away with a part of Gipsy Danger strapped to his back. If he'd been quicker on his feet, Gipsy Danger wouldn't be missing an arm, wouldn't be airlifted to the graveyard of its dead brothers and sisters.

Yancy would be complaining about off time again and pretending his shoulder was fine.

Instead he was martyr for a failing cause. A cause he no longer had the heart to openly support but wished no ill against.


	10. 0010: Memory, 2025

**0010: Memory, 2025**

* * *

It wasn't a deliberate choice on her part; the moment she glimpsed it in his head, her mind latched onto it and followed the rabbit. In this instance it was a car, an old Chevy barreling down a strip of road populated by the lights of other cars. Yancy and Raleigh were all smiles and hollers as the youngest slapped the dashboard repeatedly as an outlet for his excitement. "You break my car and you're paying for it," She heard Yancy meagerly warn his brother.

They roll up into the parking lot of a bar, a place they frequented since before enlisting in the Jaeger Program. Everyone's there to greet them once they enter, the rapturous crowd swamps them immediately, everyone moving in for a hug. Their mother appears out of the back of the crowd and was sandwiched between her sons in the strongest hug they could muster while being mindful of her condition.

A battle of emotions swelled up around her; Yancy's struggle to keep a straight face and not breakdown as his mother cradled his face and whispered how proud she was both of them; Raleigh's absolute giddiness as he grabs his mother and spins her around like a bride on her wedding day. The saviors of Los Angeles were hometown heroes of Anchorage and the envy of every ten year old boy in the world.

The rest of the memory is a haze of alcohol and smiles. They returned home with a weary mother in need of rest and head full of bubbles. "I'm never drinking again," Yancy mutters happily to himself as he carries their mother into the house. "Yeah, you always say that," Raleigh burps, closing the door behind him.

Yancy hushes him and strides into the living room. He lays their mother on the couch and drapes his jacket over her. "When are we up?"

"In five hours. We should probably head back to the dome."

"I can't even see straight, Rals. We'll go first thing. I need some sleep, like, right now."

"Fine, don't blame me if Pentecost gives us the fourth degree."

"Duly noted, I won't blame you." They shuffle up the stairs to their bedroom; the smell of childhood ran rampant; toys, adolescence, growing pains; bunk beds, twin beds and separation. Raleigh was the first hit the bed, Yancy is next. The moment he closes his eyes, she realizes the memory isn't from the first, but the latter. His eyes open again and the early morning sun is flooding the curtained windows. Rolling out of bed, Yancy gives his brother a shake and is the first to head downstairs to check on their mother.

* * *

"Mom, hey, I don't mean to cut and run, but we gotta get moving or our CO will have our asses in a sling," He flops down on the edge of the couch and waits for her to respond.

"Mom?" He nudges her, rocking back against the leg against his lower back. "Ma," His hand reaches over to smooth her hair back; the tips of his fingers touch her hair and settle on her face.

It takes a minute for him to realize the cold biting his fingers isn't from the temperature of the room, but the lack of heat from her body. "Ma?" Yancy pulls the jacket off her shoulders and rolls her onto her back; Clara Becket's eyes are at half-mass, her mouth slightly open. "Mom?" He checks her pulse, fingers pressed against her neck. There isn't a even a beat, his fingers begin to shake as he moves in close and presses his head to her chest.

Nothing, not even a murmur. "Ma- Raleigh," He rises from the couch and stumbles backward. "Raleigh… Raleigh," He turns in a circle, hands on his hand. "Raleigh!" He's already moving toward the coffee table situated beside the left side of the couch. The phone fumbles in his hand; he doesn't feel himself dial the number.

"Raleigh!" His voice sounds strangled, unwilling to dislodge itself from the middle of his chest and out of his throat. "Raleigh, get down here, now!"

"911, what's your emergency?"

He can't speak.

* * *

When she opens her eyes, the events of yesterday and the day before come rushing back to her. There's no Conn-Pod, there's no Drift, there's no Gipsy Danger. Her bedroom wall is staring her in the face. Confused, she rises a hand wipe her face. It's wet from crying, of course. Rising from the bed, she walks toward the door. It's loud and lacks the silence she needs to creep out undetected, but everyone appears to be up and even odder, Raleigh's door is wide open. Descending the brief flight of stairs she crosses the short distance between the two doors and walks into the bedroom.

The picture is lying on the floor when Mako enters the room. It's old, wrinkled from use and handle, but the affection for the moment it captured remains as strong as she remembered seeing it. Raleigh is somewhat taken aback to find her sitting on the bed and staring at the old photo like he has for over five years.

Yancy Becket wasn't someone she'd ever get to know; but the memories he shared with her through the Drift: Twenty five years' worth of misery, happiness and fortitude, he figured it would be enough to at least give her an impression. She glanced up from the photograph, not the least bit surprised to find him standing there. "I didn't mean to pry, but I had a dream about this picture," She said.

Raleigh's brow furrowed. "A dream?"

"Or I remembered what your brother saw," She shakes her head, uncertain. "Is that normal?"

Raleigh shrugs. "I think; it's been a while, but my brother and I, we would remember certain things from different perspectives and never realize we were seeing through each other's eyes until a while later."

She hands the photograph to him when his hand moves to take it without thinking. "This picture- it was taken after your first fight in Los Angeles?"

Raleigh nodded. "Yeah, we got pretty wasted that night," He recounted quietly. "The best part is that mom didn't even seem to care; she was just happy that her kids were alive."

Mako smiled forlornly, the memory of her family resurfacing. "You had a very happy family."

Raleigh shrugged. "Mostly. Dad cut out on us during the thick of it, our sister went with him. Mom got sick during training, but she still supported us right until she died. It was the best you could ask for given the circumstances, really."

Mako nodded. Taping the picture back onto the wall, Raleigh readjusted the bag on his shoulder before sitting it on the table in front of him.

"Do you have a home to go back to in Anchorage, Raleigh?"

"I might. It just depends on whether or not she'd let me come back."

"How so?"

"It's a long story; to be brief, last I saw of my family - last I saw of home - it was at our mother's funeral; Jazmine and dad, they showed up long enough to see her buried, but kinda disappeared after that. We tried looking for them, but it doesn't look like they wanna to be found. Yancy and I had decided to focus on piloting from then on out."

"This Jazmine- she is your sister?"

"Probably the only family I've got left now if dad isn't dead," Raleigh remarked. "And looking back now, we should've done more to include her in our lives, but we didn't. I wouldn't blame her for being angry if that's why she never reached out to contact me after Yancy died."

"It wasn't your fault, you were both grieving."

"Maybe. But, it's just something we - _I_ have to live with," Raleigh sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure you're tired of hearing about my sob stories. You hungry?"

She nods and takes his hand when he offers it.

Mako doesn't have the heart to pry any further into the matter of his family; she assumes she'll see it all sooner or later should she ever latch onto the memory again. She follows Raleigh into the mess hall, the weight of his brother's helplessness still hanging on her chest.


	11. 0011: Questionnaire, 2017

**0011: Questionnaire, 2017**

* * *

Yancy felt ridiculous. The gaggle of makeup artists that combed his hair back to look relatively even on all sides didn't help. They straightened the suit jacket so that is was immaculate and wrinkle free in all the right places. Across from him Raleigh didn't appear to be enjoying himself either; if anything he was the more fidgety out of the two, unconsciously moving hands toward his face whenever he got tired of having it powdered and rechecked for blemishes.

Stacker Pentecost stood on the sidelines, watching the ordeal with a detached expression that didn't quite erase the boredom from his brown eyes. Yancy turned to face his commanding officer as the woman standing in front of him began to apply peach colored lip gloss to his face to balance the almost orange make up they applied to his face.

"Sir, is this really necessary?" He ignored the offended expression of the makeup artist and shot his gaze over to his brother. Raleigh looked ready to punch someone.

"At the moment it is absolutely necessary," Pentecost responded, his tone implying only mild empathy. "At least until I can find a more productive way of maintaining public support."

"Killing Kaiju isn't enough?" Raleigh remarked disdainfully, batting a makeup brush away from his face. The woman huffed, her eyebrow rising up behind her bangs. Turning her supervisor, she complained, "Sir, he won't let me work!" Pentecost shot the youngest Becket a sideways look as the woman's supervisor shrugged helplessly, trying to reaffirm to Raleigh that the makeup is necessary part of the interview.

"Raleigh, behave yourself," Yancy warned. Raleigh bit the inside of his mouth, knowing anything he would say in response would have him looking like a twelve year old who didn't want his face washed by his mother.

"The general public is fickle, Mr. Becket," Pentecost sighed. "You can save their lives a hundred times and they can and will turn on you in an instant. The objective here is simple; reassure them with the faces of people piloting the Jaegers that defend their homeland. Allow them to get to know you."

"And just how much are we supposed let them know about us?" Raleigh inquired as the woman double checked the facial hair growing on his face. "I dunno about Yancy, but I like my privacy."

"Hey!"

"If need be, as much as possible-"

The Beckets made a face that clearly stated they didn't agree with the idea at all.

"-unless is conflicts classified operations," Pentecost finished.

"So, basically, everything?" Raleigh snarked.

"Rals, quit it," Yancy glared.

"Basically, everything the public hasn't been allowed to know about the program," Pentecost elaborated. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," They both answered.

The man beside Yancy went over his hair with a comb one more time and readjusted his tie. "There, you're ready for the big times," He said, dusting his shoulders. Yancy smiled appreciatively, allowing his shoulders to relax. "So, when are we on?"

"In about fifteen minutes," The man said.

"Whaddya we do until then?" Raleigh asked, put off by the wait. Lord, his brother was worse than a salamander on the run. The makeup artist beside Raleigh shrugged her shoulders. "Mil about, don't touch any of the stage equipment, don't stand under the lights unless you're looking to die," She smiled. "That sort of thing." Raleigh watched her go, his expression a mixture of appraisal and irritation.

He was always attracted to the bossy ones; must've been something their father loved their mother for. Yancy shoved his hands into his pockets, rolling his shoulders. The last time he wore a suit it was at his mother's funeral, barely three weeks ago. He hated them as a result considering its all they made him think about. "I could go for a coffee," He muttered.

"No coffee, you'll stain your teeth," The supervisor noted.

"Can we eat anything?" Raleigh asked, scowling.

"No, but you can have water. The cooler's just down the hall," The supervisor answered.

"Water, of course," Raleigh muttered as he followed after his brother down the hall. "I need a drink."

"The feeling's mutual, kid."

* * *

"You might know them as the heroes of Los Angeles; they joined the Jaeger Academy in 2016 and currently are the program's rising stars. Let's give a big welcome to brothers, Yancy and Raleigh Becket," Sandra Blime was someone they only knew through their mother. She watched her talk show all the time, right up until she could hardly keep her eyes open. They stepped onto the stage as the crowd began to clap - either on cue or of their own volition. Yancy and Raleigh weren't sure whether or not to wave to the crowd or greet the woman stepping out from behind the desk immediately. Raleigh was the first to extend his hand to Sandra; her grip was incredibly strong (and clammy).

She reached over, placing a hand on his shoulder as she pressed a kiss to his face. Yancy was next, he shook her hand and was perhaps too quick to pull away to sit down. Sandra sat down in the chair at the desk and assumed and a casual pose of conversation; chin resting on the back of her hand, leaning slightly forward.

"Well, hi, how are you?"

"I- we're doing well, thank you," Yancy sighed as he adjusted himself on the cushioned chair next to his brother.

"Now, your names; Yancy and Raleigh, is it?"

She just announced them onto the stage! "Yes, it's-uh-" Yancy shrugged, grinning as he looked his brother for help.

"Those are some very curious names," Sandra said.

"We had nothin' to do with 'em really. Our parents named us," Raleigh interjected, trying his hardest not to fidget under Sandra's scrutinizing gaze.

"Were you ever picked on for them?"

"Eh, not especially," Yancy answered. "Kids at school mispronounced or misspelled them sometimes. The usual stuff; it stopped being a thing around the time I graduated high school."

"The worst I've ever been called is Riley," Raleigh supplied. "Or Ray."

"Right," She got bored of the name game real quick. "So, first thing's first and I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering-"

"About the Jaeger Program?" Yancy interjected, figuring it best to lay the groundwork for the wheels turning in his head.

"Oh, you're so silly!" She swatted him playfully on the hand on the arm of the chair. "How many girls ask to ride your Jaeger?" The way her eyebrows wag suggestively and her head nods forward in odd acknowledgement leaves nothing to the imagination. "Jaeger", as far as the tabloids were concerned, was the new "Disco Disc" (or was that outdated, too? Yancy couldn't keep up with the trends). Yancy felt his face grow warm and his gaze shift unintentionally downward as he readjusted himself in the chair. The crowd started oohing and ahhing.

"Uh, ah, you want a guesstimate?" He inquired, grimacing. The talk host nodded her head and looked to crowd; they really got going, cheering in agreement. Yancy was pretty sure he looked more tomato red than orange now, but he tried play it off as casually as possible when he looked his brother. Raleigh shrugged his shoulders. "About a dozen-"

"A dozen, you sure?"

"Yeah, a dozen sounds about right," Raleigh smiled at his brother as Yancy's chuckle was drowned out by the cheers from the crowd. This was so awkward.

They could just imagine Pentecost rubbing his brow in exasperation.

"What's it like to ride a Jaeger?"

"Well, it's more like driving-" Yancy started.

"-then riding them, really," Raleigh finished, raising his arms to mimic a driver at the wheel.

"There's this whole procedure have to go through, getting this armor on and everything -" Yancy explained.

"Right, you're strapped inside the head of this huge cockpit-"

"-Conn-Pod, that's what they call it. And there's a-"

The interview continued on like that for a good seventeen minutes. A seemingly never ending barrage of questions full double entendre they either caught or didn't; mild interest in the actual mechanics of the Jaeger, because, God, could they talk about the mechanics of the Jaeger, and to the boredom of the host.

When it came time for them to leave, Yancy and Raleigh weren't slow to leave. They were polite, of course, but first chance they got, they were off stage. They figured it would be a straight shot to the car. Instead they were swamped by fans waiting on either side of the door being held back by security. They turned back to leave the other way as Marshall Pentecost stepped over the threshold with a shake of his head.

Yancy and Raleigh shared an uneasy look with each other as they marched forward. They dared to reach out and sign a few photographs of Gipsy Danger standing outside the Los Angeles Shatterdome as it was being washed down for Kaiju Blue. It was hard not to feel unnerved by the attention. The faces red with elation, happiness and pride. The people who wanted them to hold their kids and take pictures.

But, at the same time, it was whole other level of awesome.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Dubious procedures aside, this is largely a result of watching too many Charlie Hunnam/Diego Klattenhoff interviews on YouTube. And I wrote some more, so, there'll be more drabbles. Hang tight.


	12. 0012: Raleigh, Raleigh, Raleigh, 2020

**0012: Raleigh, Ralegh, Raleigh, 2020**

* * *

Dismissal was one of the worst things that could happen to a Ranger. Misconduct and disobedience were the leading causes for one's removal from the Jaeger Program. Raleigh fell into the latter category, but at this point, he couldn't bring himself to care that he lost his rank and Gipsy Danger. His mind, still fractured and brittle from the encounter with Knifehead, could think of only one thing.

_Yancy._

Raleigh stayed in Anchorage long enough to see some of Yancy's belongings buried in the cemetery and next to their mother. Condolences came and went like the hands that grabbed his and uttered "I'm sorry".

He didn't recognize half the people present. He figured most of them were fans, people that probably wouldn't have been able to tell him or Yancy apart without one of them setting themselves apart with a name or different set of clothes. They weren't twins, but their similarities - on account of their mother - made it fun to pick on people once upon a time. They were pretty good at impersonating each other.

They couldn't do that anymore, could they?

Tendo and Pentecost stood on either side of him and watched the guard put the casket to rest. They handed him the flag, he took it with a grateful nod and held it against his chest. Raleigh watched the vacant box with burning eyes. This was all a formality and that was the thing that drove him up the wall.

They were separated both physically and mentally by the waters of enemy and home; Raleigh would never get a look at his brother's face again, he'd never get to touch him and frown at the absolute lack of life in what would be the face of a dead body. Instead, he was probably some bottom dweller's lunch.

His father never showed up; Herc Hansen was missing from the attendees as well. He wasn't sure what bothered him worse; that his brother's hero never made an appearance or that his father had the balls to not show up. Maybe they were on the same level, but he figured Herc had an excuse at least. Their dad was another story.

_I don't wanna die._

Returning to the Shatterdome left him feeling disconnected. Gipsy Danger was missing from the hangar bay. His brother's bed was empty, still messy from when they got up to fight Knifehead; the bathroom was still adorned with his brother's photography from their world tour during their academy years. Everything was exactly like he left it, only he wasn't here anymore.

_You won't!_

When Jaeger pilots died, it was together. Everything they did was a team effort, even when they were losing. Why was he the exception to the rule? Why the Kaiju couldn't kill them both, why he kept fighting? It eluded him. "Where you go, I go," He uttered those very words to Yancy as his brother marched out of the house with the intention of heading for Kodiak Island to enlist in the Jaeger Academy without him.

"Where I go, you go?" The look on his brother's face when he repeated it made him laugh, but it was the truth. Neither was for schmaltzy sentiment, but they'd grown up together following each other. Two different people, but inseparable for the most part. Yancy wasn't going to do something as major (and crazy) as piloting a giant robot without his tagging along. Especially since the basis of the motivation was stupid dare.

So, it didn't make sense that death would be the one exception to their situation, and it shouldn't have been.

He should be dead.

Raleigh kept moving; reaching under the bed, he pulled out his duffle bag and tossed it onto the bed. Unzipping it, he moved without thinking; pulling the photographs from off the bathroom wall and mirror, he shoved them into the bag. Anything that wasn't bolted to the ground, anything that belonged to him or Yancy, fell into the bag. He left the jackets behind, however. He couldn't stand to look at them anymore.

_Raleigh…_

Stepping out of the room, he marched down the hall, ignoring the frightened and concerned looks of the bay teams; there isn't much he can do about the people asking where he was going. He doesn't have the heart to answer them and he didn't want to be followed. The sun was shining on March 10, 2020 when he disappears off the face of the Earth.

_Raleigh…_


	13. You can't cheat at Tekken, 2017

**0013: You can't cheat at Tekken, 2017**

* * *

The first time it happens, it's in the middle of lunch and his eyes are wandering the table, wondering what he forgot to grab. Without so much as looking up from his book, Yancy reaches over and hands his brother the bottle of ketchup hidden by the punch bowl in the center of the dinner table.

Raleigh stares at it for a second, wondering why his brother is even handing him the bottle. Yancy stops chewing on his French fries and stares at his own hand, baffled himself. "Did you want this?" He asks. Raleigh's gaze shifts, he looks down at his plate and realizes there are still French fries on them. "Yeah, actually," He grabs the bottom and proceeds to open the cap.

* * *

The second time, Yancy is soundly beating him in a game of _Tekken Tag Tournament 2_. Raleigh throws his control onto the couch not once, but every time he's beaten. He can't understand for the life of him why every team he uses is countered and beaten by even the worst of Yancy's tag selection. "You're cheating, you have to be!"

"How the hell do you cheat at Tekken? There are no cheat codes for this game!"

"You keep backing me into a wall, that's how."

"Oh, bullshit, you just can't stand that I'm beating your ass for once, and before you go and call me "bullshit", it's the truth and you know it."

"I wasn't going to call you bullshit."

"Yes you were. It was practically written on your face."

They argued for another five minutes before Raleigh removed himself from the recreation room, taking his controller with him. Yancy marched out a few seconds later, shaking his head. _Dumb kid._

* * *

The third time it happened, Raleigh can't explain why eating his cereal is trigging arousal. It's embarrassing, chewing on cornflakes, making noises and feeling the the sting of pleasure hit him square in the chest every time he swallowed. He knew he was making faces because half the Danger crew was eyeing him like he just farted or trying their hardest not the laugh.

These were either the best cornflakes he ever tasted or something else was amiss. Crossing his legs, he leaned toward one of the Drivesuit techs and asked, "Have you seen Yance anywhere?"

The guy shrugged. "Uh, last I saw him he was talking to Regina."

Raleigh made a face. "Regina, the Jaeger Fly?"

"Yeah, that'd be the one."

"How did she get in the dome?"

"The same way the others do."

"Where are they?"

"Uh, the Kwoon, I think. Why?" Raleigh didn't answer him. Sliding off the bench, he adjusted his jacket and exited the mess hall. The entire way to the Kwoon room, his palms were sweating and his heart was racing. Opening the door, he traveled down the short corridor toward the three stairs and stared at the middle of floor.

Yancy was lying on the floor pinned beneath the girl named Regina who was busy trailing kisses across his chest, working her way up to his neck. His expression matched exactly what Raleigh was feeling; he hated it.

"Yancy!" His voice boomed in the empty space, startling both parties out of their activity. Regina scrambled off of Yancy, using his jacket to cover whatever was exposed. "Oh, my God, you have a twin!" Yancy was on his feet in an instant, hands hoisting his pants back up around his waist and adjusting his red plaid shirt. He was vexed, embarrassed and still riding the high. "He's not my twin, he's my brother," Yancy corrected her. "What the hell are you doin' here, Raleigh?"

"You wanna tell me what the hell you're doin' with her?"

"What business is it of yours?" Yancy snapped. "I don't ask who you sleep with."

"It's my business when you're practically broadcasting it in my brain!"

"What?" His older brother stared at him like he grew two heads.

Regina made a face. "Uh, what does he mean?" As Yancy prepared to dismiss his brother as temporarily insane, a look of horror spread across her rosy features. "Oh, my God."

"Yeah, exactly," Raleigh retorted, crossing his arms.

"What?" Yancy was lost. "What exactly?"

Regina shrugged his jacket off and handed it to him. "Were you- did you two just Drift or something?"

"It's been an hour since we got off patrol with Gipsy, but, babe, I don't-"

"Uh, I have to go, Yancy. Like, call me when you're not- whatever," Regina retrieved her purse and shirt from the floor and pulled it over her head.

"Regina, you don't have-"

"Actually, I think I do," She hurried away in the opposite direction, leaving the brothers to their devices. Raleigh felt his brother's disappointment transform into resentment. He turned to stare his brother down with a glare. He marched toward him, hand gripping the jacket with all his might. "There had better be-"

"-a good reason for this?" Raleigh finished, his expression mirroring his brother's. "Yeah, I think there is. C'mon." He made a move to grab his brother's wrist. Yancy evaded his hand and marched up the stairs.

"Well, fine, be that way," He muttered following after him. "Button your shirt up, we actually want to get to our room."

"Shut up, kid."

"Jaegers for Dummies" lay open between them on the floor, Raleigh attempting to read the text upside down, Yancy staring down at it with a slightly annoyed expression. "Ghost Drifting" / "Drift Hangover", an unexplained side-affect from the neural handshake, something he figured they both should've been aware of.

They were never terribly studious about rereading the entirety of their manuals once they got over the initial hurdle of reading the material and memorizing it for tests. "You've gotta be kidding me," Yancy grumbled, shutting the book. "Does this ever go away?"

"Book says Dr. Lightcap doesn't think so," Raleigh scratched the back of his head. "Which might complicate things."

"That makes no sense," Yancy grumbled.

"It actually makes a creepy kind of sense," Raleigh argued with a shrug. "I mean, all those times you kept beating at Tekken when I should've won-"

Yancy glared at his brother. "I can't believe you're still bitching about that."

"It's the truth; I've beaten you every time we've played that game until we started piloting Gipsy Danger," Raleigh insisted with a grin. "Now that I know, maybe I can use it against you."

"In your dreams, Rals," Yancy grabbed the book off the floor, stood up and moved toward the door.

"Wh-where are you goin'?"

"To call Regina."

"Dude, desperate much?"

"She thinks we had a threesome or something, Rals," Yancy explained. "I should at least have the decency to explain what happened." Before Raleigh could say anything in her defense, Yancy was out the door and down the hall.


	14. 0014: Pilot Tag, 2017

**0014: Pilot Tag, 2017**

* * *

_(The Pinup Girl):_

When Yancy was thirteen, his first crush was on Tifa Lockhart, an utterly fictional character. Rational dictated that it was likely the size of her breasts and her long legs that attracted him to her, but he also enjoyed playing as a Monk, so he always chose Tifa as his preferred player character.

He liked her so much that he went to a Halloween party as a male Tifa. Naturally, no one had any idea who he was supposed to be, which was disappointing.

The world ending tended to bring back the oddest recollections. When Gipsy Danger was still pristine and new, not a scratch on her, one of the technicians asked him what he wanted to put on her hull to signify his and Raleigh's ownership of the Jaeger. Yancy shrugged initially, more baffled by the idea of ownership over a partnership with the machine.

"C'mon, you don't wanna put anything on this girl?" The tech nudged him suggestively in the ribs as Yancy continued to stare at the right chestplate. It took a moment, but the tumble of his mind eventually led him back to his days of video games and he turned to face the tech as he departed across the catwalk situated in front of Gipsy's chest.

"Hey, guy, you ever heard of Final Fantasy?"

The tech turned and shook his head. "No, what is it?" Yancy didn't hide his enthusiasm; he walked over to the tech and began to describe Tifa to the best of his abilities. The guy seemed to get it, particularly when he described her prominent physical attributes. The very next day, the tech dragged him and Raleigh out to bay eight and presented them his handiwork. She looked nothing like Tifa outside of the long legs, dark hair and bust framed by suspenders. There was more Lara Croft in her anything. "Maybe I should've given you a picture," Yancy muttered, his inner fan bruised at the inaccuracy.

"What, you don't like it?" The tech asked, crestfallen.

"Hell, I do, she's gorgeous," Raleigh interjected excitedly. "Can we get this on our jackets? Right across from the kill count?" The tech nodded, he and his brother bumped fists. Yancy bit his tongue, discontent with examining the pinup girl's extreme difference from his favorite character.

* * *

_(Anti-Kaiju Stamp):_

Metharocin was quite possibly the worst thing Yancy was ever required to ingest. He understood the reasons, the necessity that literally suggested his life depended on it, but it was never an easy pill to swallow. No matter the method, the bitter taste still managed to find its way onto his taste buds and challenged his gag reflex.

Sitting on the back of Gipsy Danger's outstretched hand, however, made him cautiously appreciative of the bitter medicine given his proximity to the heart of the machine. He was no skilled artist, but he didn't need to be when he had a huge stamp to lay across the middle finger of the Jaeger.

He adjusted the belt around his waist, tugging on the lifeline attached to Gipsy Danger's wrist. The mist of red paint spread across the finger of the machine without bleeding over the edges on account of his steady hand.

The idea had been Raleigh's; it was by no means subtle (or mature) and they forever doubted that the Kaiju could read symbols or speak English. It gave them a sense of satisfaction in knowing they could literally scream "FU Kaiju" with their fist in every fight without ever uttering the words. Releasing his grip on the handle, Yancy hooked the paint gun onto his tool belt and pulled the stamp away. The head of the Kaiju sparkled under the track lights above.

"Yancy, you almost done?"

Yancy reached for the radio hanging on his right hip and pressed down on the "talk" button. "Yeah, I'm all done," He said. "Give me a minute to get down."

"Hurry up, I'm freezing in this hall and I think I hear someone coming," Raleigh grumbled. Balling the stamp up, Yancy stood up and moved toward the part of the arm nearest to the movable catwalk.

No one, not even the tech teams noticed the symbol on the middle finger of Gipsy Danger. It sat idle and unappreciated outside of the gaze of the Becket brother's for a year until the left wrist needed repairs.

* * *

**Author's Note**: So apparently, embroidering your armor and/or clothing with Kaiju kill counts is a common thing among Jeager Pilots and not exclusive Striker Eureka's pilots (the Hansens). A blown up screencap of Yancy and Raleigh in their Gipsy Danger jackets show they have four Kaiju heads on the right side of their jacket. Kinda makes me wonder where Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon's kill counts would be.


	15. Where would you rather die? AU, 2025

**0015: Where would you rather die? AU, 2025**

* * *

_(For mad the saxon)_

* * *

Industrial environments stuck out in his memory as more homely than boxy houses and white fences. Some part of him thought of that as troublesome, the other couldn't be bothered to try and suss out the deeper implications of being more relaxed in the presence of sparks and steel than cushions and family pictures.

He stood out like a sore thumb, black suit, black tie and a pinstripe white dress shirt. He had the look of a corporate lackey, all he was missing was a sign on his back that said "kick me, I'm responsible for killing the Jaeger Program". He wasn't, but he wouldn't blame the guys working on the wall to chuck a beam at him.

He walked through the somewhat busy environment, ignoring the odd looks he received from the winded workers carrying tools and materials around the yard. The wall was coming along nicely, the half completed gap, once so wide, was growing narrow. "Hey!" Yancy turned in response, shoving his hands into his pockets. He had nothing to hide, but the action occurred like second nature. A dumpy man made his way over to him, he had something of exasperated expression on his face, like this wasn't the first time someone wandered onto the site without permission. "You're not supposed to be here, man, this is a work zone," The man said.

"I noticed," Yancy replied. "I'm lookin' for someone, you might work with him."

"Depends on which quadrant he's working on. If he's here, maybe I've seen him," The man explained. "We don't exactly work in teams, if you get me. What's his name?"

Yancy nodded. "Name's Raleigh Becket, he's-"

"That washout of a jockey?" The guy started laughing. "Oh, man, he just took a job on the top of the wall on the other side." Yancy looked upward, neck craning to see the topmost part of the wall. The news was always reporting, albeit sporadically, how many men and women fell from the top of the wall. Working conditions for the Wall of Life Program were abysmal, but no one seemed to be in a rush to do something about improving it. "Can I get up there?"

"Hell, no, not unless you're a worker," The man snorted. "You think the city wants to get sued because we let some authorized fogey up on the wall?"

"To be honest, I didn't think they cared," Yancy grinned.

"Well—uh, they don't, but you know, protocol and all," He said.

"Yeah, I got ya," Yancy replied. "When is his shift over?"

"Not for a long time."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Maybe six hours," The man said. "But we're having lunch in an hour, so, you might see him then. Mess hall's in this building." He pointed the structure right behind Yancy. The older Becket studied the front. It was one of the factories they used to mass produce Mark-1 Jaeger replacement parts; there used to be dozens of them, but they all started closing down around the same time the Shatterdomes were decommissioned. Funny how much can change in five years and four months. Yancy placed a hand on the man's shoulder, ignoring the small plume of dust that rolled from his body. "Well, thanks for the heads up," Yancy moved past him, prepared to lay himself across the back seat of his jeep and wait for the lunch hour. "Hey, stranger!" The guy moved to catch up with him. Yancy raised an eyebrow, but made no move to interact with him any further. "Just who are you to that jockey, anyways?"

"I'm the washout's older brother," Yancy stared him square him in the eye, daring him to comment. The worker looked astonished for about a moment then started to grin. "Well, I guess it's true what they say," He said.

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"Jaeger pilots who fight together, washout together."

"Oh," Yancy frowned. "I was hoping for something a little cleverer." The man stopped dead in his tracks, Yancy picked up his pace, not caring if he hurt the man's feeble ego. Pentecost was right, the public was fickle.

* * *

Yancy waited in the jeep for over an hour, dismissing anyone who asked him to leave the property with a PPDC badge or an even threat for those who were quick to remind him the badge meant about as much as waving the arm of a Jaeger in their face.

He fiddled with the instruments, his hand occasionally moving to touch the band hanging next to his dog tags on the chain around his neck. He rested his head against the steering wheel and closed his eyes.

The sound of the lunch bell startled him from sleep.

Groggy, he spied a look at his digital watch and groaned. It was two in the evening, way past the usual lunch hour and way past waiting time Pentecost gave him to recruit his brother. The Marshall was probably on his way back to Hong Kong at this point. Pulling himself out the car, Yancy strolled across the yard toward the building the guy pointed him to earlier.

Like he said, everyone was inside eating or watching television. Trouble was everyone looked like a blob of grays and muted browns; finding his brother in this crowd would be like trying to find the exact number of freckles on his back. Some men looked up at him and frowned, their demeanor shifting to defensive at the sight of his suit. "Hey, guys," He waved. "I don't mean to be rude and interrupt lunch, but anyone seen Raleigh Becket?"

"The-"

"Yeah, the same," Yancy interjected before he could hear those three dreaded words. A pair of hands pointed to the far end of the table in the center, some leaned forward enough that the man being pointed at was revealed. Raleigh Becket wasted no time playing stupid, stepping away from table he grabbed the strap of a tool belt around his waist and walked forward. Yancy played it cool, keeping a straight face as his brother closed the distance between them. "What do you want?" He asked.

"I need to talk to you, it's a matter of urgency," Yancy answered in his most professional tone. "Got someplace we can talk in private?" Raleigh nodded and brushed past him; Yancy followed him, ignoring the murmurs that were beginning to rise around them. They fell back in sync, a shoulder's width apart.

"Nice suit."

"Thanks, I guess," Yancy replied. "It's a rental."

Raleigh led him across the yard into an isolated corner. "Step into my office, old man," The sarcasm appeared to fly over his brother's head; Raleigh watched as Yancy appraised the nook with a disappointed expression. "Some office," Yancy muttered.

Raleigh stood just a few feet away from him, arms folded. "So."

"So…," Yancy parroted. Raleigh stared him down for a while longer. His frown melted away to reveal a smile.

"Yance."

"Rals." Raleigh raced up to his brother and pulled him into a hug. Yancy grit his teeth against the pressure on his right arm as it was pressed against his side and hit his brother on the back with his left arm. "Ow, you sonofabitch, get off me!" Some part of him was laughing, the other wanted gnaw his brother's arms off for squeezing him. Raleigh pulled away from his brother and steadied him. "Your shoulder still hurts?"

"Only when I'm around you," At his brother's immediate frown, he added, "That was a joke, Rals. It's fine." He ruffled his hair and moved to sit down on the bench across from them. "How've you been? I haven't seen you since- actually I don't think I saw you at all when I woke up-"

"After we were dismissed I kinda left," Raleigh joined him on the bench, adjusting the bag hanging on his right arm.

"Yeah, I thought you died," Yancy chuckled dryly. "They had me sedated when they thought I would break the spinal halo trying to get up."

Yancy watched his brother duck his head as he leaned forward. "I'm- I'm so sorry about that, man," Raleigh said. "I messed up, I wasn't- I wasn't thinking."

Yancy knocked his loafers against his brother's boots. No one appeared to be thinking after Gipsy Danger was taken out of the fight, him especially. He spent the better part of his recovery lying on his back, delirious, unable to run from nightmares and suffering the silence on the other end of his mind. He couldn't stand hole in his head where his brother should've been and no one would tell him where he was. The nature of their disconnect during the Drift apparently made it hard to pinpoint the problem, but Dr. Lightcap, however, was sure the issue with him more emotional than physical. The only real constant that played opposite of what was five years of absolute hell was Dr. Flanagan.

"I'm not gonna lie; I hated you for a really long time. You kept sending checks in the mail for the medical bills, but no one could find you. They kept me in the dark for a long time about our status until I was able to move around without breaking something," He sighed. "I've only known where you were for the last six months, but I got caught up in… other things."

"Do you still hate me?" Raleigh asked. "'Cause if you do, this reunion is gonna get real awkward."

"Nah, it takes way too much energy to hate you," Yancy sighed with a weary grin. "I can focus my attention on hating Kaiju, they don't care."

The response didn't exactly fill Raleigh with confidence. "How have things been on your end, kid? They treat you nice here?"

"Everyone hates Jaeger pilots, Yance," Raleigh scowled. "Like everything happening is our fault. The pay here is for crap, everyone treats me like dirt and I don't sleep. What about you?"

"My arm hurts every time it rains, which appears to be a lot these days, I don't sleep either. Ronnie- I mean, Dr. Flanagan still oversees my physical therapy, and until yesterday, we were both grounded," Yancy recounted, rubbing his shoulder. "I think there's more, but that's all I can think of on short notice."

"Uh, what do mean, until yesterday we were both grounded?" Raleigh parroted as Yancy stood up. "What's goin' on, Yance?"

"I'm not sure how up to date you are on current events, Rals, but things… well, they aren't good," He said.

"How do you mean?" Raleigh inquired. "I mean, I know things ain't been "great", but it's not horrible, right?"

"Pentecost would rather you hear it from the horse's mouth, but considering the decisions of the United Nations, he needs every Jaeger pilot he can get his hands on, and that includes us," Yancy explained.

"I'm guessing we weren't his first choice?" Raleigh grinned sourly. "He was the one who grounded us."

"Actually, we were," Yancy answered. There was something about his expression that spoke volumes about what he wasn't telling him. "Yance, what-"

"Look, whatever your opinions are on the Jaeger Program, from one pilot to another, I'm asking you: Would you be willing to come back?"

"Yance, I only left because I was dismissed," Raleigh said. "I took this job I knew they wouldn't support us once we were grounded. Yeah, there were other reasons, but I never left because I lost faith in the program... not completely anyway."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah, that's a yes. But, I gotta talk it over with the boss."

Raleigh's talk with his boss took a grand total of two minutes. Sitting in the jeep, Yancy fiddled with the chain around his neck until he saw his brother jogging toward him, a self-satisfied look on his face. The passenger door swung open, Raleigh was in the seat before the door was fully closed.

As the door slammed, Yancy took a moment to glance outside the passenger window. "You sleep with the guy's daughter or somethin'?" Yancy asked, only half-joking.

"More like I smashed his face into a can of beer," At his brother's laughter, Raleigh pointed toward the yard exit. "Let's get out of here before we're arrested, huh?"

"Sure," Yancy's jeep tore out of the yard as Raleigh's boss stumbled out of his tent, screaming bloody murder at the departing vehicle.

* * *

**Author's Note:** "Yancy Lives" attempt 01 complete. This is a smaller part of another drabble series I've been toiling over because I have too many _Pacific Rim_ plot bunnies jumping out of my closet to be ignored.


	16. 0016: Who needs sleep? 2017-2020

**0016: Who needs sleep? You're never getting it, 2007-2020**

* * *

_01: 2007_

"Yancy, wake up! Mom's making pancakes!"

The beginning of most mornings went by without incident. Jazmine, out of the three of them, was the first the rise. She prided herself on etiquette and timely arrival to the dining table when their mother was downstairs getting things ready. Raleigh was second to rise. Wound up so tight from recuperating, it was hard to maintain a normal sleep pattern with all the noise he made running around the room.

"Yaaanceey! C'mon, wake up!"

Yancy, for all his seniority over the two, was never an early riser. His mother chalked it up to the fact that he was overdue by a week when she was pregnant with him. Taking into account that his father was also a late riser and late birth, Yancy figured no one would really hold it against him for waking up twenty minutes later than the rest of his siblings on a weekend.

"Alright, fine, more pancakes for me," Raleigh rolled off his brother's still form and walked toward the bedroom door. Yancy rolled back into his default position on his right side and tucked his arm under his pillow. Raleigh opened the door slowly, letting the hinges squeak until they were obnoxiously too loud to ignore.

Yancy still didn't budge. Raleigh knew he shouldn't be taking Yancy's inability to get up personally, but he did not want to have to deal with Jazmine's teasing alone. Stepping out of the room, Raleigh walked backward until his back hit the wall. He pushed away from the wall and dashed into the room, he jumped forward, the momentum carried him across the small space between him and Yancy's bed.

"Wake up!" His little brother's weight knocked the sleep out of him; he rolled reactively, trying to throw him off his side. Their combined weight buckled the legs of the bed and went the frame crashing to the ground.

"Raleigh!" Yancy was sitting upright, bed hair likening him to that angry bull with its horns aimed right at him. Raleigh scrambled off the bed as his brother moved to assault him with his pillow.

* * *

_02: 2010_

They lived separated for three years once their parents got around to cleaning out the attic. The empty space above their shared room was prime real estate; out of the way and isolated. So naturally they fought each other for it in a game rock paper scissors.

Jazmine got the room in a three-to-two vote, their parents siding with their little sister. Yancy was left with her bedroom, complete with pink and lavender walls. Eager to embrace his manhood, he used his allowance to buy sky blue and timber wolf paint and was quick to attack the walls of the vacant bedroom.

The house smelled of paint and primer for weeks, but Yancy deduced the displeasure of smelling it made the work all the more rewarding. Once he was done, he stripped the room of tape and newspaper and slowly began to file his belongings into the room adjacent to Raleigh's. His brother played at being happy to be rid of him, but every now and again Yancy would spot the look of disappointment on his face. It's was gonna be hard for him, but he knew his brother would adapt.

Yancy worked to get adjusted to the space, and the fact that he'd no longer fall over his brother's shoes or hard candy. The space was alarming, but the silence was nice and so was shutting his door.

_Shutting his door_. The sense of possession did wonders for his ego. Yancy was king of his own roost, free to rule his invisible subjects without delegating with his little brother.

Having his own room, however, did not dissuade his brother's morning ritual: Attacking him with his pillow. In fact, it only seemed to make his activities worse. It didn't matter where he was, as long as he was sleep, Yancy would ultimately find himself walking right into a pillow that seemed able to attack him from all the sides. Listening to his brother cackle disappear all the way down the hall, pillow covering his head in case of retaliation, drove him mad.

Raleigh was assassin with a pillow and he knew Yancy couldn't catch him because he was too far removed from his own body functions to actually sum up the brain cells to chase him. The last time he did that, Yancy ran straight into his door.

So, instead of plotting revenge Yancy got wise and locked his door. Afterward, he told his mother that Raleigh was still pranking him with his pillow.

Raleigh got six week's worth of his chores to deal with as punishment.

* * *

_03: 2017_

There really wasn't anything to do except wait. Yancy had walked to and from Grand Central Market and returned to the Shatterdome in hopes of killing time, even at the risk of getting caught outside once the sirens started sounding. The Kaiju still hadn't made landfall. He wanted to ask what it was doing out there, but thought better of it. Sitting next to his brother, Yancy folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

Across from them Romeo Blue's pilots, Bruce and Trevin Gage stood at attention, their white Drivesuits looking in far better condition than their own. "How do you figure those guys can stand there for so long?" Raleigh inquired in a low whisper. Yancy yawned, "I have no idea", and much to his brother's displeasure, let his head rest on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not a pillow," Raleigh complained half-heartedly.

"You're the only thing around here soft enough to sleep on," Yancy replied, sinking further into the recesses of his mind. Raleigh rocked back and forth, hoping the motion would wake his brother. Yancy remained where he was and just readjusted his arms.

"You better not drool on me," Raleigh muttered.

Yancy grunted and kept chasing sheep until he was completely under the lull of sleep.

The alarms went off almost an hour after his brother dozed off.

"Romeo Blue, report to bay 01, Kaiju Signature, Category III-"

Raleigh, unaware he'd fallen asleep himself, sat upright, head switching back and forth.

"Gipsy Danger, report to bay 03. Kaiju signature, Category III, codename: Yamarashi-"

Bruce and Trevin were already moving toward their bay and younger Becket had to wonder if they stood there that entire time. "Yo, Yance! Wake up!" Raleigh rolled his shoulder, bumping his brother in the face. Yancy sit upright, drool in the corner of his mouth. "Kaiju, got it, I'm up," They stood up in unison and moved in the opposite direction of the Gage brothers toward bay three.

* * *

_04: 2020_

Tendo was the first notice Yancy was sleeping through mission debriefs and drops. Whenever he visited the LOCCENT, his eyes were always at half-mass, every muscle in his body expressed weariness, right down to his smile.

Tendo often wondered what the Becket boys were doing that kept the older brother falling asleep on his feet and his brother remaining as vibrant as ever, no matter the situation. It was becoming a practiced ritual, Yancy in a constant state of drowsiness while his brother did his best to rattle him from the throws of sleep.

"Marshall Pentecost on deck," Tendo announced automatically as the commanding officer moved to stand beside him. His hands glide across the control panel like second nature, reflex memory seeing him through the necessary procedures. Gipsy Danger's head ceased turning and fitted itself to the base of its neck, protective flaps moving into position behind and beside her.

"Gipsy Danger, ready and aligned, sir," The voice belonged to Raleigh, who usually never signed off on Gipsy's alignment. Tendo let his eyes wander over to Yancy's vital. His heart beat was slow and steady, dipping back and forth.

Like he was sleep.

"Uh, hey, Rals, my man-"

"What's up?"

"Is your brother sleep?"

"Uh…" Tendo could imagine Raleigh leaning back against the harness to look over his shoulder at his brother. Tendo and Pentecost got their answer soon enough when the sound of soft breathing echoed over Yancy's com. _Oh, jeez. _"…Uh, yeah, yeah, he's sleeping," Raleigh's tone was bewildered.

"Would you be as so kind as to wake him up, Mr. Becket?" Pentecost tone never changed in pitch but his look on his face definitely promised discipline was on the horizon.

"Yes, sir," Raleigh cleared his throat. There was a moment of silence followed by, "So, I heard they were cancelling Bob's Burgers."

"No, I love that show," Yancy's response was immediate, but his words were slightly slurred, signifying his awareness was not at one hundred percent. "Did I fall asleep again?"

"You did, Mr. Becket," Pentecost answered before his brother did. "I'll have to recommend that you and brother remain behind this drop."

"That's not necessary, sir, I'm totally aware now," Yancy protested meagerly.

"Your awareness is questionable, Ranger. I can't have you falling asleep in combat, not at a time like this," Pentecost rebuked. "I am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," Yancy drawls.

"Goddamnit, Yanc-" The familiar click of the com shutting off on Gipsy's end followed suit, Tendo cast an uneasy glance toward the Marshall. "Get Miss Callahan on the line, see if she can't figure out why I have an insomniac on my hands," Pentecost ordered.

Tendo was pretty sure that pleasure belonged to someone else, but acknowledged the order all the same. Yancy and Raleigh departed from Gipsy Danger steamed, Raleigh looking like he wanted to smack his brother upside the head for sleeping on the job.

* * *

_05: 2019_

Yancy has resigned himself to hating the mornings. Drills, deployments, maintaining an early morning routine; all of it disagreed with the natural impulse to sleep through half the day. He found himself climbing down from the bed, greeted by the sound of Kasabian's "Club Foot" playing loudly on the radio sitting on the shelf. There was also the distinct sound of his brother's off-key delivery falling out of unison with the singer's wail.

A mug sat on the desk across from their bunk. He knew it was for him. Snatching the first thing he could he pulls a fisherman's sweater over his head and immediately recognizes it as his brother's when it fits too snugly around his chest. He doesn't care. Pulling the chair out from the desk he sat down and gripped the mug and prepared take a sip.

The alarms go off overhead. The mug hasn't even left the desk. "For Chrissake," He mutters, defeated. Raleigh slides out of the bathroom, towel hanging lose around his waist as he dries the back of his neck with the other. "Get up loser, we're fishing- oh, hey, you're already awake!" Raleigh approaches him and slaps hard on the back. "C'mon, time for the drop!"

Yancy sighed dejectedly. He walked into bathroom with the mug in his hand. He walked out moments later, bleary eyed, but ready to face the day in San Diego.

Clawhook felt the full force of Yancy's sleepy retribution when it lost its head to Gipsy's Plasmacaster.

* * *

_+01: 2018_

November 7, 2018. Yancy's birthday and one of the rare occasions he was given leave to sleep in by his brother. Raleigh would slip out of bed, quiet as a church mouse falling over his own feet. Plenty of things were knocked down in the process of righting himself, but Yancy, as usual, slept right through it. His pillow lay discarded on the floor like a minor annoyance while he lay on his stomach, left arm acting as a substitute.

Reaching under the bed, Raleigh pulled out a messily wrapped box addressed to his brother and sat it between Yancy's legs. There was nothing fragile inside of it, Raleigh learned his lesson after Yancy unthinkingly chucked his last present onto the top bunk and was unable to save it from rolling off the other side. He ruined a perfectly good set of mugs he had tailor made for them (one with his name, one with Yancy's). As he withdrew his hands, Yancy's head turned toward him. Raleigh froze, his breath caught in his throat.

Yancy didn't move, didn't even crack an eye open.

Raleigh walked casually out of the bedroom and went about his day. Yancy didn't stumble out of their room until two in the evening, confused as to why his ears weren't ringing with music, alarms or brothers breathing in his face.

He didn't notice the present until the night after his birthday party.

Raleigh got him a pair of blue earmuffs with Gipsy Danger's logo's on each ear. "Aw, kiddo, just what I wanted." Yancy's tone was playful, but his brother knew when he was being sincere.

Raleigh snapped his pretend suspenders like a proud mother, already working on what to get him for Christmas.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yes, it still lives. I surface from the planes of RLWTP (Real Life Writers The Plot) and bring you the second to last chapter of my Becket drabbles.


End file.
